Hamburg 2009 – scientific programme

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A: Fachverband Atomphysik

A 24: Ultra-Cold Atoms, Ions and BEC II (with Q)

A 24.6: Talk

Thursday, March 5, 2009, 12:00–12:15, VMP 6 HS-C

Towards a finite system of degenerate fermions — Timo B. Ottenstein, Thomas Lompe, Andre N. Wenz, •Gerhard Zürn, and Selim Jochim — Max Planck Institut für Kernphysik, Heidelberg, Germany

We report on our approach towards a finite ensemble of degenerate fermionic ⁶Li atoms. In this system it will be possible to study the crossover from mesoscopic physics to the thermodynamic limit. One of the first phenomena to study is the formation of shell structures in a two component mixture with tunable interactions. ⁶Li is especially well suited due to the easy tunability of the interparticle interaction by means of Feshbach resonances.

The starting point of such experiments will be our BEC of ⁶Li Feshbach molecules in an optical dipole trap. For preparing an ensemble of few atoms a precise control of the particle number is essential. This requirement can be fullfilled by transferring the sample into a micrometer sized trap with high trapping frequencies which is realized by a tightly focused laser beam. So far we have determined the parameters of our micro trap in an external test setup with satisfying results.

The next step will be the integration of the micro trap into the existing setup and testing its performance.